Monday, March 31, 2008

Boo Boo

Support was thin for the chimp yesterday at the season opener of the Washington Nationals baseball team in their new park.

Consider it an 'informal' poll of his popularity(approval) which is hovering at 20%.

Find those twenty per centers and send them for some edumacation on how to think proper and stop being stooopid.

DUH!

.And there is this From Ronald Raygun:'A moment I've been dreading. George brought his n'er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida; the one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work.'

HOW TO STOP PEOPLE FROM BUGGING YOU ABOUT GETTING MARRIEDOld aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, telling me, 'You're next.' They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

There’s an unfortunate tendency in our country for autocratic officials to clamp down on our fundamental rights of free speech and assembly – especially when the Powers That Be don’t like what we are gathering together to say. On the other hand, our country is blessed with rebels who have a fortunate tendency to push back against the autocrats.

At the 2004 Republican national convention in New York City, protesters against the Iraq war planned a mass demonstration on what’s known as the Great Lawn of Central Park. They intended to make public use of this public land, but were curtly denied a permit. Why? Officials said that protesters would harm the grass of the Great Lawn, and that an unwritten regulation allowed only crowds of 50,000 or less to be on the 13-acre lawn at one time. Excuse us, said the protest leaders, but much larger crowds have routinely been allowed there for concerts and other events. Indeed, before our application, they said, there have been no limits on crowd size. Go away, said the officials.

Well, while they were shut out of the people’s park for the duration of the political convention, the groups did not go away. Instead, they filed suit in federal court, charging the city with unlawful denial of their First Amendment rights. Finally, after three years of litigation, city officials have backed away from their unconstitutional position and settled the case.

In this important victory for free speech, the city will pay $500,000 in legal costs that the groups incurred, and officials will no longer set an arbitrary limit on protest numbers, nor deny access to the Great Lawn on political grounds.

This is Jim Hightower saying… Our freedom and democratic rights were not "won" for us by the founders back in the 1700s. Rather, democracy is a historic fight that we must constantly re-win, a fight that depends on Americans remaining rebellious.

“Antiwar Groups Claim Victory in Settlement Over Central Park’s Great Lawn,” The New York Times, January 9, 2008

Earlier this Congress, I introduced H.R. 2605, a bill to establish a sunset for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243). I am pleased to inform you that this bill has attracted broad bipartisan support.

Doc, extinction is a real possibility due to the inaction of world governments to curb emissions.

I'm afraid it will be too late when they do decide.

I get this from the PDF; World climate is comprised of many elements and when one changes it affects t6he others and they change wherein the original position is indiscernible and modifies even further.

Liken it to a balance scale out of a teeter totter when the balance is upset it affects the other side and complicates it's balancing role, 'tipping point' and in order to restore the balance all elements must be brought back to the original positons that maintained the original balance.

With the balance being many variable elements all needing to counteract each other and achieve harmony.

In other words, we are screwed if we have to depend on our flunky money grubbing leadership to move together with the rest of the world to correct the current imbalance and save us from the inevitable,extinction.

Dr. B, once I got beyond the confusion of a positive feedback being “bad” and a negative feedback being “good,” ;-) I realized that this pdf essay is one of the best prepared presentations on the seriousness of acceleration of climate change that I’ve seen.

The writer, David Wadsell, succinctly explains that unless climate stabilization is achieved, we face an extinction event. No unnecessary words. Just the facts.

I think his graphics (well, those I really looked at) are easily understood and make his point quite clearly, without any fancy extras.

The very simple graphics explaining bifurcation compared to what the meaning of tipping point is, for example, were useful to my understanding of his analysis.

Wadsell’s belief that “we have what we call a second order feedback system” caught my attention -- those at the forefront of addressing climate change should take advantage of that concept in framing a convincing message of the urgency of mitigating climate change. It’s easily understood, IMO.

But, alas...until people feel the urgency of the problem not much is going to happen. It’s a problem that has little, if any, LEADERSHIP promoting the necessity for action. Within the scientific community, there is general consensus (among the GOOD scientists) that we need to generate extraordinary interventions, but scientists are not good at communicating that message (generally). Some politicians are good at communicating, but not so good at leadership. Citizens are not good at paying attention to the big picture.

I sometimes have the impression that there’s lots of talk, but not action, to put it simply.

Dr. B, I can’t help but bring up the current political scene here in the United States -- I believe as I think you do, that the biggest issue facing us is the climate crisis. Climate and environmental issues cannot be seen as separate from social issues, such as jobs, retirement, healthcare, education, etc. but people won’t focus on climate issues unless they feel they have a secure economic future. Chicken and egg. For Americans, without economic security, ecological demands will take a back seat. I doubt if we are going to change our “economics” to fit the imperatives of the environment.

I have looked very, very closely at the words of politicians, and how they oft times change their tune for a given audience -- for instance, a certain presidential candidate (who will remain unnamed), when talking to financial types, has hinted that one area where spending cuts could be made would be on defense but also on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, with little attention to universal health care, but instead taking the position that “small business” should be given incentives to provide coverage to their employees. Those latter three cuts (if they were to occur) would make younger voters happy, since they will “never need” those social programs (they think), but if the cuts were to occur, I can’t imagine those affected would be willing to spend tax dollars on mitigating climate change.

I’ve said it many times here, to get something meaningful done in this country, it will take the people demanding change and demanding solutions -- especially on climate change.

I think the EU will take the lead on the climate crisis and other countries will join the effort long before the United States climbs on board, if ever. The only way we’re going to achieve any progress on the climate crisis here in the “homeland” is at the state and local level -- but states can only do so much. It’s getting far too late for incrementalism.

Maybe we should start scaring the shit out of little kids about RADIATIVE FORCING -- nursery rhymes depicting half-starving little waifs, sweating profusely, because they have to wear special clothing that radiates energy back out -- or else!!! ZERO is the goal! Or, you’re NOTHING! :-))

Yeah, that’s it...scare ‘em when they’re young, so they grow up wanting to make a better world. (Right. That worked so well when we all did the duck and cover stuff during the Cold War....here we are, war, war, war.)

Humans are not essentially rational. Why do we believe what we believe? Just wondering....

You know a nation is in trouble when the worst epithet its citizens can hurl at each other is the title of a folk song: "Kumbaya," an African American spiritual whose name (and chorus) translates from the Gullah dialect as "come by here."

"Kumbaya" is a deep, spiritual lament, a prayer to Gods in times of trouble.

"Someone's dying lord, Come by 'ere"

Unfortunately it became a campfire song, it lost its deep meaning.

We were taught, in catholic school, to have much more reverence for the words, and what they meant, than the lacadasical way the song was presented sung in the 70's long after most of the widespread desperation of the dust bowl-civil rights struggle had tapered.

We were taught it alongside "Let it Be"...go figgur.

Another "go figgure", thought.

The sweet-grass baskets that are still made today by the people of gullah-geechee heritage are sold for hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars.

The baskets are one of the few examples of weaving that can be made to hold water.

The distinctive patterns, handed down through generations, sometimes are compared to the weaving and pottery patterns of the Anasazi/Hopi people of the American southwest.

The Gullah and Geechee people I've the pleasure of meeting (and DINING with...OHMYGOD! There's "soul food" and then there's THAT!) have been universally warm and inviting, super-involved in their communities and some of the most insightful and knowlageable folks I've ever known.

If you're ever along the NC/SC/GA coast, ESPECIALLY St.Helena's island...stop in...they'll be happy 'ta see 'ya!

Gotta do something to keep out of trouble while I'm waitin' for the GOTV weekend in PA. The last 4 daze is my favorite thing...rubber hits the road, all that.

Thing is...anywhere and everywhere I get to go, I meet the greatest people. While the scenery always interests the photographer in me, the people never fail to grab me by the heart and intellect.

I sometimes wish I could shoot portraits of the people, but I always feel more intrusive and I don't want to lose the true warmth.

Diane Arbus could've done it. Some of the great "Dust Bowl" photogs could've done it, but I haven't seen a retrospective on the Gullah/Geechee people yet. I'm sure somebody's tried.

St. Helena's island is one of the places where Jill and I were just driving around, down dead-end (but only if you DIDN't have kayaks on the car) roads where there'd be a miniature donkey, behind a fence, trotting over to come and visit me.

Happened a few times south of SanDiego, in the San Juan mountains and in the outer banks of NC too.

That's how I ended up with Pabla. I got her because of all of her cousins, everywhere I traveled.

She's a perfect fit, alonside the dogs and the goats and the grandkids.

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About Me

DWF is dedicated to intelligence and the support of truth wherever it might be found. Coffee in the corner, donuts on the side. Notice: No neo-nazis, reich wingers, devil worshippers or other types of morons allowed.